That night, all was silent.

Suddenly, bright yellow flames erupted from the flatbread shop at the crossroads. The fire quickly spread to neighboring buildings, and in the blink of an eye, thick smoke billowed as flames shot toward the sky.

The guards from Wuhou Station and the patrolling Golden Tiger Guards rushed to fight the fire. The cacophony of gongs, drums, footsteps, shouts, and curses filled the air.

An ox cart waited in the shadows at a street corner, separated by one ward block. A ram’s horn lantern hung at the front of the cart, bearing the Zheng family crest.

The cart driver, looking tense, helped Du Sinan, whose face had turned ashen, onto the cart while urging repeatedly, “Young Master, hurry! You can’t stay in the Prefecture any longer!”

Du Sinan was disheveled, his long hair loose, his headscarf crooked atop his head with its ties knotted messily, looking altogether wretched.

Before mounting the cart, he turned to look one last time at the distant residence being mercilessly devoured by the flames, his palms ice-cold.

The Crown Prince had tried to kill him.

Du Sinan knew the Crown Prince suspected his deep involvement with the Second Prince, but he had believed in the Crown Prince’s magnanimity and was confident he could win his recognition.

He hadn’t expected to miscalculate so badly—the Crown Prince had moved to eliminate him so quickly.

Was the Crown Prince so wary of the Second Prince?

Or perhaps… was the Seventh Princess the one he truly feared?

Having escaped death, Du Sinan’s mind raced as he lifted the cart’s curtain to look at the sturdy guard standing beside it.

Earlier that night, as he had been sleeping soundly, Xie Qing had suddenly burst into his room, yanked him straight from his bed, and carried him over his shoulder. They had escaped by climbing over the ward wall. Just as Du Sinan was about to cry for help, he caught the acrid smell of smoke on the wind and instantly understood, terrified to his core.

As a strategist who had never seen battle, he feared death.

Having survived this ordeal, Du Sinan didn’t want to lose his life in the Prefecture. He decided to first flee the capital to avoid danger, then seek better opportunities later.

Before leaving, he had one question.

“Does the Princess have any instructions for me?”

Since the Seventh Princess had sent someone to save him, she would surely use this life-saving grace to force him to assist the Second Prince.

Xie Qing replied expressionlessly, “No.”

Du Sinan gave a cold laugh.

He had ended up in this awkward predicament entirely because of the Seventh Princess—why was she now putting on this pretense?

Xie Qing handed a waist token to the cart driver: “Leave through the western gate. If anyone asks, say you’re a Zheng family servant delivering a letter on orders from Her Highness the Crown Princess.”

The cart driver, terrified of being burned to ashes if they delayed, nodded repeatedly.

Du Sinan sat in the carriage, a mocking smile on his lips, waiting for Xie Qing to feign reluctance and try to persuade him to stay.

The wheels turned and the cart left the main street. Having finished giving instructions, Xie Qing simply turned and left.

Du Sinan waited for a long while before lifting the curtain, his expression rigid.

The driver advised, “Young Master, the Princess means you no harm. If she hadn’t sent someone to wake us in time, we’d have been burned alive! Next time you see the Princess, don’t be so cold toward her.”

The Princess had snow-white skin and the beauty of flowers and jade. Wherever she stood, her graceful smile would outshine all the flowers in Chang’an.

Every time he saw the Princess, he was so frightened he dared not breathe a sound. Yet the Young Master was so cold to her—truly failing to appreciate beauty!

Du Sinan couldn’t understand what Li Yaoying was trying to do. She neither recruited him nor eliminated him, yet saved his life… what game was she playing?

“What exactly does she mean by this?”

The driver asked, “Young Master, haven’t you heard the rumors in the capital?”

Du Sinan frowned. “What rumors?”

The driver sighed and said quietly, “Everyone in the capital says the Seventh Princess admires your talent, but you’re just a commoner scholar of humble birth.”

Du Sinan rolled his eyes heavenward—he most despised others discussing his background.

The driver knew his master hadn’t understood his hint and shook his head: “Young Master… Xue the Fifth and the others all say the Seventh Princess wants you as her consort!”

Du Sinan’s pupils contracted sharply as he froze like a wooden chicken.

The next moment, he turned as red as a shrimp thrown into boiling water, his handsome face flushing crimson.

…

After seeing Du Sinan off, Xie Qing returned to the prince’s mansion to report.

Li Yaoying sat cross-legged before the corridor, checking the mansion’s accounts. She wore a pale blue gauze robe and pomegranate red skirt, her fair bosom half-visible, her skin like snow.

Xie Qing asked, “Your Highness, why did you save Du Sinan?”

Yaoying straightened up and rubbed her waist, the gold vine-pattern bracelet on her wrist making a light tinkling sound.

“No particular reason, it was a simple matter.”

Nothing had happened yet, and she didn’t want someone to lose their life over events that hadn’t occurred. The Du Sinan of her previous life had acted on orders, but in this life, he would never gain Li Xuanzhen’s trust and wouldn’t pose a threat to Li Zhongqian.

Yaoying hadn’t expected Li Xuanzhen to move so ruthlessly against Du Sinan.

In people’s eyes, the Crown Prince wasn’t a narrow-minded person. He was approachable, treated his subordinates well, respected his strategists, and appointed talent regardless of background. That was why so many military leaders of humble origins were willing to follow him.

Why did he hate Consort Xie so much?

Yaoying was lost in thought for a moment.

As usual, Xie Qing stood quietly outside the half-rolled painting screen in the corridor, his posture straight as a pine.

Li Zhongqian returned from drinking outside, his steps unsteady, his clothes half-open revealing a honey-colored chest wet with wine as he stumbled onto the corridor.

Yaoying had servants bring sugarcane juice to help him sober up.

Li Zhongqian walked to her side and sat down next to her, his wide robe sleeves sweeping across the account books and documents on the table, sending counting tokens clattering to the floor.

Yaoying bit her teeth in anger, slapped away his arm, and began gathering the tokens again.

“I spent over an hour on these calculations! Elder Brother, please go sit somewhere else, stay away from me.”

Li Zhongqian was drunk and laughing heartily—the more Yaoying spurned him, the more he pressed close to her.

Yaoying pushed him away, laughing, “Elder Brother, you’re drunk. Go clear your head elsewhere, don’t disturb me.”

Her slight strength naturally couldn’t move the tall and sturdy Li Zhongqian.

After some playful struggle, Li Zhongqian sobered somewhat. One hand propped on the desk, the other holding the silver bowl, he took several sips of sugarcane juice. His gaze swept across Xie Qing’s face, his brows furrowing.

“Little Seven, His Majesty summoned me yesterday.”

He set down the silver bowl and spoke softly, his face devoid of expression.

Yaoying’s heart skipped a beat.

Shortly after Li De’s ascension to the throne, court officials had advised him to cease military campaigns and instead allow the people to rest and restore production.

The land north of Hetao in the west was barren and poor, while the more distant Western Regions had been occupied by different tribes decades ago.

What was lost was lost.

The nomadic tribes in the north were strong but could be pacified by sending more gold and silver treasures.

Why bother with conquest?

To the south, regions like Nanchu and Baiyue were separated from Great Wei by mountains and great rivers. Their governments were corrupt and torn by internal strife—they certainly wouldn’t dare march north to attack Great Wei.

They weren’t worth worrying about.

Recently Li De had returned to Chang’an and held daily feasts to entertain chiefs of surrendered tribes and envoys from various nations while handling accumulated state affairs.

The officials were very pleased: Now that the Sacred One had ascended the throne, he was no longer the Great General of Wei Commandery and should remain in the imperial city rather than leading troops in battle as before.

They were satisfied, but Li De had other plans.

His ambitions ran deep—he wasn’t content with just controlling the Central Plains. He aimed to take Hetao in one strike and then recover the Western Regions.

However, the opposition at court was too strong, and the treasury was depleted, unable to support military needs. That’s why he had no choice but to return to Chang’an after recovering several prefectures and counties.

Li De was unwilling to give up.

While the Emperor couldn’t leave the capital, princes could. The Li family’s sons had grown up on horseback, learning warfare alongside their father and brothers from childhood. The Crown Prince, Second Prince, Third Prince, and Fourth Prince were all brave and skilled in battle.

At the palace feast two days ago, Li De had bestowed armor, precious swords, and other items upon Li Xuanzhen, Li Zhongqian, and their brothers.

At that time, Yaoying knew their father would send her elder brothers to lead troops into battle.

Before the corridor, apricot trees bloomed in full glory, like clouds and sunset glow.

Flowers bloom and wither, year after year.

But people were different from flowers.

Yaoying dropped her counting tokens and asked in a trembling voice, “Elder Brother, you’re going to war again?”

Li Zhongqian looked down at her and nodded slightly.

Yaoying’s heart grew heavy.

She could carefully guard against Li Xuanzhen, but she couldn’t influence the course of battle a thousand li away.

Li Zhongqian pinched Yaoying’s face and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, this time your Elder Brother isn’t in the vanguard, just responsible for escorting supplies.”

Yaoying’s nose stung as her eyes quietly reddened.

Every time Li Zhongqian went to war, she had nightmares.

She dreamed of yellow sand filling the sky, him holding a blood-stained golden hammer, wearing broken armor, moving forward with difficulty step by step.

Black masses of Northern Rong cavalry surrounded him.

His guards died one by one, with fallen corpses all around him.

A long spear pierced his chest, blood gushing forth.

The enemy commander waited for his surrender, but he smiled coldly, supporting himself with his hammer, standing unyielding until his strength failed and he died.

The cavalry withdrew, leaving him standing in the dunes, already dead but his figure unmoving, guarding the vast land behind him.

Before long, vultures began to peck at his corpse.

The towering figure finally collapsed, leaving only white bones.

Yaoying closed her eyes briefly, hiding her grief, and raised her hands to straighten Li Zhongqian’s disheveled clothes.

“Elder Brother, on the battlefield weapons show no mercy and situations change in an instant. You must listen to others’ advice and not act recklessly.”

Li Zhongqian smiled and agreed.

After chatting for a while, he casually made an excuse, asking Yaoying to help him find something. When Yaoying rose to enter the room, he turned to look at Xie Qing standing guard in the corridor, his phoenix eyes narrowing, expression cold and stern.

“Your martial skills are excellent—why not join this prince on the battlefield?”

Xie Qing remained motionless.

“Why so silent?”

Li Zhongqian smiled ambiguously, his phoenix eyes slanting upward, revealing a sharp glint.

At this moment, he made no effort to conceal his domineering air of brooking no defiance nor his commanding arrogance, his tone haughty.

“You’re descended from the Xie family’s guards, sworn to serve this prince—can this prince not command you?”

Xie Qing knelt, cold sweat flowing, but his back remained straight as he said, “Your Highness, I am the Princess’s guard and take orders only from her.”

Li Zhongqian’s thick brows lifted slightly, his domineering aura diminishing somewhat: “A good warrior should gallop across battlefields and establish merit. With your martial skills, you could quickly stand out after joining the army. This prince would nurture you well—in less than a year, you could command your troops.”

Xie Qing’s face remained proper as he said firmly, “Each person has their aspirations.”

Li Zhongqian’s expression darkened slightly, his gaze sharp as a knife: “You aspire to be the Seventh Princess’s guard?”

Xie Qing knelt in the corridor, his expression resolute, and declared clearly, “Indeed, I aspire to protect Seventh Miss’s safety and remain by her side—my heart is as clear as the sun and moon!”

Hearing him change how he addressed her, Li Zhongqian frowned.

…

Xie Qing was the son of an Xie family guard. According to Xie family rules, from age thirteen, children of hereditary servants could participate in annual martial competitions. The champions would be sent to the army and receive promotions and important duties.

When the Xie family met with disaster, their followers scattered. Many guards quietly changed their surnames and sought their fortunes elsewhere.

Some chose to stay—part of them remained in Jingnan to tend the Xie family graves, while others became Li Zhongqian’s guards.

Xie Qing was the son of one such family.

He had started challenging older youths as soon as he turned thirteen, losing more often than winning. By seventeen, he had finally defeated everyone and won the competition.

Li Zhongqian asked what reward he wanted.

He shook his head, saying he wanted no reward—he only wished to be Li Yaoying’s guard.

Li Zhongqian had flown into a rage, thinking Xie Qing was overstepping his bounds and harboring designs on Yaoying, drawing his sword to strike.

Later the misunderstanding was cleared up, and Xie Qing became Yaoying’s guard.

Those he had once defeated now rose rapidly through military ranks, but he remained unmoved, content to follow Li Yaoying.

…

Thinking of Xie Qing’s conduct these past two years, Li Zhongqian’s expression softened somewhat.

This fellow was stubborn and straightforward, utterly loyal to Little Seven, obeying her every word while constantly mindful of a servant’s proper place, never overstepping bounds. He kept himself pure and spoke little, neither drinking nor visiting pleasure quarters, doing nothing but practicing martial arts.

A faithful servant indeed.

Since he was willing to remain as Little Seven’s guard, he could stay a while longer.

The sound of skirts brushing the ground came from the corridor as Yaoying returned.

Li Zhongqian waved his hand, indicating Xie Qing should rise.

Xie Qing stood silently and returned to his post in the corridor to continue his watch.